Communication system, packet network, supplementary service controller, and method for providing supplementary services

ABSTRACT

The disclosure relates to providing supplementary services by interworking a packet network and a circuit network and sharing resources used to provide supplementary services therebetween.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a continuation of International ApplicationNo. PCT/KR2011/005338 which is based on, and claims priority from, KRApplication Serial Numbers 10-2010-0086726 and 10-2010-0089759, filed onSep. 3, 2010 and Sep. 14, 2010, respectively. The disclosures of theabove-listed applications are hereby incorporated by reference herein intheir entirety.

FIELD

The disclosure relates to providing supplementary services in a packetnetwork while using resources of a circuit network.

BACKGROUND

IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystems) which has been developed for IP (InternetProtocol) multimedia services in the third-generation mobilecommunication network is now core technology for providing new servicesin All-IP based next-generation communication environments.

The IMS network which is a packet-switching based packet network maymake it possible to provide mVoIP (mobile Voice over IP) as a packetbased voice call service to users. However, the inventors have notedthat, where All-IP environments have been not completely realized yet,new infrastructures are all constructed to provide supplementaryservices for a packet based voice call service, it may result inoverlapping investments with existing similar infrastructures and alsocause the burden of time and cost in constructing such infrastructures.

Additionally, where All-IP environments have been not realized yet, acircuit network providing circuit switching and a packet networkproviding packet switching may coexist with each other. In this case, auser terminal may use a voice call service by accessing either thecircuit network or the packet network. Therefore, the inventors havenoted that there is a need to control supplementary services for such aterminal across the circuit network and the packet network.

SUMMARY

In accordance with some embodiments, a packet network for providingsupplementary services comprises a session controller and asupplementary service controller. The session controller is configuredto establish a session connection associated with a basic servicebetween terminals that access the packet network. The supplementaryservice controller is configured to check for a supplementary serviceprovidable to at least one of the terminals during the sessionconnection, and to provide the providable supplementary service to theat least one of the terminals by interworking with a circuit network.

In accordance with some embodiments, a supplementary service controllerfor providing supplementary services comprises a communication moduleand a control module. The communication module is configured to transmitand receive data. The control module is configured, when there is asession connection associated with a basic service between terminalsthat access a packet network, to check for a supplementary serviceprovidable to at least one of the terminals, and to provide theprovidable supplementary service to the at least one of the terminalsthrough the communication module by interworking with a circuit network.

In accordance with some embodiments, a communication system forproviding synchronized supplementary services comprises a plurality ofterminals, a circuit network and a packet network. The circuit networkincludes a home location register that stores, for each of the pluralityof terminals, a service profile having a list of supplementary servicesassociated with the terminal. The circuit network is configured toprovide at least one of the supplementary services to the terminal thataccesses the circuit network according to state information associatedwith the supplementary service and indicating either activation orinactivation of the supplementary service. The packet network includes asupplementary service controller configured to share the service profilewith the home location register, to synchronize the state information ofthe shared service profile through exchanging a message with the homelocation register, and to provide at least one of the supplementaryservices to the terminal that accesses the packet network depending onthe synchronized state information. The terminal is configured totransmit to the packet network or the circuit network a message thatrequests a change of the state information with respect to at least oneof the supplementary services.

In a method of providing supplementary services in accordance with someembodiments, a supplementary service controller of a packet networkchecks for a supplementary service providable to at least one ofterminals when there is a request for a session connection between theterminals that access the packet network. The supplementary servicecontroller interworks, if the supplementary service is providable by asupplementary service apparatus of a circuit network, with thesupplementary service apparatus. The supplementary service controllerprovides the supplementary service to the at least one of the terminalsaccessing the packet network by using the supplementary serviceapparatus of the circuit network.

In a method of providing synchronized supplementary services, inaccordance with some embodiments, at a supplementary service controllerof a packet network, it is determined whether a received message is (i)a state change request message that requests a change of stateinformation corresponding to a supplementary service of thesupplementary service controller, or (ii) a synchronization message thatrequests a change of the state information to be the same as the stateinformation of a home location register of a circuit network. The stateinformation of the supplementary service controller is changed accordingto the state change request message if the received message isdetermined as the state change request message. A synchronizationmessage is transmitted to the home location register to request the homelocation register to change the state information of the home locationregister to be the same as the changed state information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a communication system configured toprovide supplementary services in accordance with at least oneembodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an interworking structure between a packetnetwork and a circuit network configured to provide supplementaryservices in accordance with at least one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of an interworking structure between a packetnetwork and a circuit network configured to provide synchronizedsupplementary services in accordance with at least one embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of the configuration of asupplementary service controller in accordance with at least oneembodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a service profile in accordance with at least oneembodiment.

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of a terminal configured to usesupplementary services in accordance with at least one embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of a method for providing supplementaryservices in accordance with at least one embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram of a method for synchronizing supplementaryservices in accordance with at least one embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram of a method for synchronizing supplementaryservices in accordance with at least another embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of a method for providing synchronizedsupplementary services at a supplementary service controller inaccordance with at least one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description makes reference to the accompanying drawingsin detail. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will understand thefollowing description is not limited to the embodiments specificallydisclosed below and is implemented in various forms and the scope of thefollowing description is not limited to the following embodiments. Wellknown techniques, elements, structures, and processes will be omitted toavoid obscuring the subject matter of the disclosure.

Particular terms may be defined to describe the embodiments of thisdisclosure in the best manner. Accordingly, the meaning of specificterms or words used in this disclosure and the claims should not belimited to the literal or commonly employed sense, but should beconstrued in accordance with the subject matters of various embodimentsas described herein. For example, “supplementary services” used hereinrefer to at least one of communication services other than a basicservice for which a session connection is requested and/or established.Supplementary services are merely used to describe particularembodiments described herein, and are not intended to limit the scope ofthe embodiments as well as not limited to a literal or common meaning.Therefore, other alternative terms, for example “additional services,”“extra services,” “communication services” and so on, may be substitutedfor “supplementary services.” The description of the various embodimentsis to be construed as exemplary only and does not describe everypossible instance. Therefore, it should be understood that variouschanges may be made and equivalents may be substituted for variouselements.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a communication system configured toprovide supplementary services in accordance with at least oneembodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1, the communication system according to at least oneembodiment includes a packet network 100, a circuit network 200, anaccess network 300, and terminals 400.

The packet network 100 is a core network that provides communicationservices in accordance with a packet-switched method based on IP(Internet Protocol), and the circuit network 200 is a core network thatprovides communication services in accordance with a circuit-switchedmethod.

The terminals 400 include a caller terminal (or an originating terminal)401 which requests a call connection, and a recipient terminal (or acallee terminal or a terminating terminal) 402 which is a target of acall connection request.

The terminals 400 may access the packet network 100 through the accessnetwork 300, which connects the terminals 400 to the packet network 100.The packet network 100 may support all kinds of access networks 300. Forexample, the access network 300 may use a fixed access type such as DSL(Digital Subscriber Line), cable modem, or Ethernet. In this type, theaccess network 300 may provide a wired connection service such that theterminals 400 can access the packet network 100 through modem, router,or gateway, etc. wire-connected to the terminals 400. Alternatively, theaccess network 300 may use a mobile access such as W-CDMA, CDMA2000.GSM, or GPRS. In this type, the access network 300 including at leastone of network entities such as a base station 310, a base stationcontroller 320 and a gateway 330 provides a wireless service between theaccess network 300 and the terminals 400 such that the terminals 400 canaccess the packet network 100. Additionally, the access network 300 mayuse at least one of wireless accesses such as WLAN (Wireless Local AreaNetwork), WiFi (Wireless Fidelity), or WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperabilityfor Microwave Access). In this type, while having an access point, anaccess router and a gateway, the access network 300 provides a wirelessservice between the access network 300 and the terminals 400 such thatthe terminals 400 can access the packet network 100. Therefore, theterminal 400 capable of using the above-discussed access network 300 mayaccess the packet network 100 through the access network 300. Meanwhile,as shown in FIG. 1, at least one embodiment uses the access network 300including the base station 310, the base station controller 320 and thegateway 330. However, the access network 300 is not so limited, and anyother type of access networks such as fixed access or wireless accessmay be alternatively used for the access network 300.

Particularly, in at least one embodiment, it is supposed that the packetnetwork 100 is IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem). The packet network 100 iscomposed of a number of entities, which may be formed of either a singleintegrated device or individually separate devices. Such entities of thepacket network 100 includes a supplementary service controller 110, asession controller 120 also referred to as CSCF (Call Session ControlFunction), a home subscriber apparatus also referred to as an HSS (HomeSubscriber Server) 130, a media gateway controller also referred to asan MGCF (Media Gateway Control Function) 140, a media gateway alsoreferred to as an IMS-MG (IMS-Media Gateway) 150, a multimedia resourcecontroller also referred to as an MRFC (Multimedia Resource FunctionController) 160, a multimedia resource processor also referred to as anMRFP (Multimedia Resource Function Processor) 170, and a chargingprocessor also referred to as a CCF (Charging Collector Function) 180.

The supplementary service controller 110 is an entity for providingsupplementary services to the terminals 400 in the packet network 100.The terminals 400 include a caller terminal which requests a callconnection to a recipient terminal by originating a packet-based call ora circuit based call, and a recipient terminal which is a target end ofthe requested call connection. The supplementary service controller 110may provide supplementary services by using its own supplementaryservice data or using supplementary service data of the packet network100. Further, the supplementary service controller 110 may providesupplementary services by using supplementary service data of thecircuit network 200 through interworking with the circuit network 200.In this disclosure, the term interworking refers to data exchange orcommunication between the packet network and the circuit network.

In order to provide supplementary services, the supplementary servicecontroller 110 first checks whether to provide supplementary services tosubscribers' terminals (i.e., either or both of a caller terminal and arecipient terminal). Here, subscribers include users of caller terminalsand users of recipient terminals, who are registered to subscribe thesupplementary services in either or both of HSS 130 or HLR 210.Subscribers' terminals include all the caller terminals and all therecipient terminals. To check whether to provide supplementary services,the supplementary service controller 110 may use a service profile ofthe HSS 130 in the packet network 100 or of an HLR 210 in the circuitnetwork 200. The supplementary service controller 110 can check aservice profile by looking up the service profile of either or both ofthe HSS 130 and the HLR 210 or after receiving and storing a serviceprofile from the HSS 130 or from the HLR 210. A service profile has alist of services joined (or subscribed) by subscribers and/or theirterminals, and each item of this list indicates a particularcommunication service. Here, each communication service may be a basicservice (or standard service) or a supplementary service (or additionalservice). If a certain item is activated in the service profile, thesupplementary service controller 110 may provide the service indicatedby the activated item. If a certain item is not activated (inactivated)in the service profile, the supplementary service controller 110 may notprovide the service indicated by the inactivated item.

After a caller terminal requests a call connection to a recipientterminal, the supplementary service controller 110 checks whether thereis a supplementary service which is subscribed by a subscriber andavailable for a subscriber's terminal (i.e., either or both of thecaller terminal and the recipient terminal). If any supplementaryservice is available for a subscriber's terminal, the supplementaryservice controller 110 provides the available supplementary service tothe subscriber's terminal. Here, a subscriber includes a user of thecaller terminal 401 and a user of the recipient terminal 402, and asubscriber's terminal includes the caller terminal 401 and the recipientterminal 402

If the caller terminal accesses the packet network 100 and tries to makea call, the supplementary service controller 110 may check whether thereis a supplementary service which can be provided to the caller terminal401. Additionally, if there is a request for a call connection from thecaller terminal to the recipient terminal, the supplementary servicecontroller 110 may check whether there is a supplementary service whichcan be provided to the recipient terminal 402. If the caller terminal401 and the recipient terminal 402 are located (or camped on) atdifferent packet networks 110, each supplementary service controller ofsuch different packet networks 110 may exchange providable supplementaryservices with each other. For example, if a first supplementary servicecontroller of one packet network on which the recipient terminal 402 islocated can provide a specific supplementary service available for thecaller terminal 401, a second supplementary service controller ofanother packet network in which the call terminal 401 is located mayrequest the first supplementary service controller to provide thespecific supplementary service available for the caller terminal 401.

If there is any providable supplementary service, the supplementaryservice controller 110 provides such a supplementary service to thecaller terminal 401 or the recipient terminal 402, depending on the typeof that supplementary service. The supplementary service controller 110may provide supplementary services by using its own supplementaryservice data or using supplementary service data of the packet network100. Further, the supplementary service controller 110 may providesupplementary services by using supplementary service data of thecircuit network 200 while interworking with the circuit network 200.Here, supplementary service data may be various kinds of data requiredfor supplementary services. For example, supplementary service data maybe messages, sounds, videos, images, lists, or the like. Supplementaryservice apparatuses 240 are located in the circuit network 200 andprovide supplementary services to subscribers' terminals that access thecircuit network 200. The supplementary service apparatuses 240 storesupplementary service data required for relevant supplementary servicesand can provide supplementary services by using such data. For example,the supplementary service apparatuses 240 include a recipient serviceapparatus 241, a caller service apparatus 242, a ring back tone serviceapparatus 243, and a voice message service apparatus 244.

The session controller 120, also referred to as the CSCF, establishes asession connection associated with a basic service (e.g., a voice call)between the terminals 400 via at least one entity of the packet network100, and initiates and processes an SIP (Session Initiation Protocol)message received from the terminals 400. Also, in order to provideservices at the request of the terminals 400, the session controller 120completes the session by delivering the SIP message to each or at leastone of entities 110˜180 in the packet network 100. The sessioncontroller 120 may include (Interrogating)-CSCF, S(Service)-CSCF, andP(Proxy)-CSCF.

The home subscriber apparatus 130, also referred to as the HSS, storessubscriber information and is an evolved form of the HLR 210. Also, thehome subscriber apparatus 130 supports entities that perform a sessioncontrol. And also, the home subscriber apparatus 130 stores informationabout subscribers in connection with a session control, such as locationinformation of subscribers, security information for authentication andapproval of subscribers, and a service profile which includes a list ofservices joined by subscribers. In at least one embodiment, the listincludes a plurality of services (e.g., basic and/or supplementaryservices) associated with the subscribers, and in such a list, servicesjoined (subscribed) by the subscribers are indicated as activated itemswhereas services not joined by the subscribers are indicated asinactivated items.

The media gateway controller 140, also referred to as the MGCF, isconfigured to perform a signaling conversion between the packet network100 and the circuit network 200. A signaling conversion means aconversion of data format (or message format, or protocol format) fromprotocols of messages used in the packet network 100 to ones used in thecircuit network 200, and vice versa. For example, a conversion isperformed from an SIP message to an ISUP (ISDN (Integrated ServicesDigital Network) User Part) message, and vice versa. For this, the mediagateway controller 140 has a protocol conversion function forinterworking with the circuit network 200. Also, the media gatewaycontroller 140 has a function to control the media gateway 150.

The media gateway 150, also referred to as the IMS-MG, converts circuittraffic based on circuit-switched type into packet traffic ofpacket-switched type, and vice versa. For example, the media gateway 150performs conversion between RTP (Real Time Protocol) traffic and PCM(Pulse Code Modulation) traffic. This may be made under the control ofthe media gateway controller 140. The media gateway 150 may beconfigured to be included in, to be integrated with, or to be separatedfrom the media gateway controller 140.

The multimedia resource controller 160, also referred to as the MRFC,and the multimedia resource processor 170, also referred to as the MRFP,perform multimedia-related functions. Particularly, suchmultimedia-related functions include specific functions associated withthe use of multimedia for providing supplementary services. For this,the multimedia resource controller 160 may control the multimediaresource processor 170. The multimedia resource controller 160 and themultimedia resource processor 170 may be formed of a single integrateddevice. For example, multimedia-related functions may include audible orvisual announcement, audio stream mixing required for media conference,conversion between text and audio, voice recognition, real-timetranscoding of multimedia data, and the like. If necessary for provisionof supplementary services, the multimedia resource processor 170 mayprovide multimedia data to the terminals 400 under the control ofmultimedia resource controller 160.

The charging processor 180, also referred to as the CCF, collectscharging data from the supplementary service controller 110 and createsa charging record using the collected charging data. For charging therespective terminals 400, the charging processor 180 may provide thischarging record to a BS (Billing System). The charging record may be CDR(Call Detail Record).

The circuit network 200 in accordance with at least one embodiment willbe hereinafter described. The circuit network 200 includes an HLR (HomeLocation Register) 210, a recipient service apparatus 241, a callerservice apparatus 242, a ring back tone service apparatus 243, a voicemessage service apparatus 244, an IGW (Internetworking Gateway) 220, anMSC (Mobile Switching Center) 230, an IP server 245, a sound database246, and a number portability message apparatus 247 also referred to asa VSMSS (Vertical SMS Server). In this disclosure, a supplementaryservice apparatus 240 will be used as a generic term for elements thatsupport the provision of supplementary services, such as the recipientservice apparatus 241, the caller service apparatus 242, the ring backtone service apparatus 243, the voice message service apparatus 244, theIP server 245, the sound database 246, and the number portabilitymessage apparatus 247.

The HLR 210 basically manages subscribers (or subscribers' terminals) inthe circuit network 200. Namely, the HLR 210 may perform specificfunctions such as subscriber authentication, location registration, orthe like. Particularly, the HLR 210 may manage basic services andsupplementary services, which are joined by subscribers (or subscribers'terminals). A voice call and a video call are examples of basicservices, whereas an incoming call switching and a voice message areexamples of supplementary services. In order to manage services joinedby subscribers (or subscribers' terminals), the HLR 210 may store aservice profile which is a list of such services which are joined orsubscribed by subscribers (or subscribers' terminals). Each item of thislist indicates a particular service. If a certain item is activated, itindicates that a corresponding service to the certain item on the listis providable or available for subscribers (or subscribers' terminals).However, if a certain item is not activated, it indicates that acorresponding service is not providable or available for subscribers (orsubscribers' terminals). This is equally applied to both basic servicesand supplementary services.

The recipient service apparatus 241 provides supplementary services torecipient terminals. For example, the recipient service apparatus 241may provide supplementary services such as a missed call numberpresentation, an incoming call blocking, and the like. The recipientservice apparatus 241 includes database that stores supplementaryservice data required for providing supplementary services, and has aweb function for modifying contents of such supplementary services. Forexample, it is possible to store, update, change, delete, and searchsupplementary service data in the recipient service apparatus 241through web.

A missed call number presentation service is a specific service toprovide a caller number of missed call to an intended recipient inconditions where a call is not answered. Such conditions may be occurredon a power-off state of the recipient terminal 402, on a state where theline is busy, on a state where the line is dead, or the like. In thisservice, if there is an incoming call from the caller terminal 401 inconditions where the recipient terminal 402 fails to answer the incomingcall, the supplementary service controller 110 provides a phone numberof the caller terminal 401 to the recipient service apparatus 241.Additionally, the supplementary service controller 110 may request therecipient service apparatus 241 to provide the caller's number in theform of message to the recipient terminal 402. Thus, the recipientservice apparatus 241 may provide the terminal number of the callerterminal 401 to the recipient terminal 402.

An incoming call blocking service is a specific service to restrict acall connection from selected callers to a specific recipient. In thisservice, a recipient may register selected callers in a call blockinglist to reject incoming calls from selected callers. If one ofregistered callers tries to connect a call to an intended recipient,this service may prevent a recipient terminal from ringing and provide aguide message indicating a call failure to the caller. In this service,the recipient service apparatus 241 may store a call blocking list thatrecords one or more of the caller terminals 401 selected by therecipient terminal 402. Namely, such a call blocking list is createdthrough registration in the recipient service apparatus 241 by therecipient terminal 402. The supplementary service controller 110 mayinquire of the recipient service apparatus 241 about whether the callerterminal 401 is registered in the call blocking list. If the callerterminal 401 is registered in the call blocking list, the supplementaryservice controller 110 may restrict a call connection of the callerterminal 401. Also, the recipient service apparatus 241 may provide aguide message indicating a call failure to the supplementary servicecontroller 110. Then, the supplementary service controller 110 maydeliver this message to the caller terminal 401.

The caller service apparatus 242 provides caller-oriented supplementaryservices and may be formed through MSIN (Mobile Station IdentificationNumber) equipment.

The caller service apparatus 242 may provide supplementary services suchas a line reopening notification service, or the like. A line reopeningnotification service is a specific service to notify a caller that anintended recipient who has been on the phone enters a state of allowinga call connection. This service not only notifies a caller in a messagethat an intended recipient is in a call-receivable state, but alsoautomatically notifies a recipient of a call message from a caller. Thisservice is available when the recipient terminal 402 with which thecaller terminal 401 is trying to connect a call is busy. In this case,when a current call of the recipient terminal is finished, thesupplementary service controller 110 may request the caller serviceapparatus 242 to inform the caller terminal 401 that the recipientterminal 402 enters a call-receivable state. Also, when a callconnection fails because an intended recipient is on the phone, thisservice provides a guide message associated with service provision tothe caller terminal 401. An example of such a guide message is asfollows. “The line is busy. Message will follow when a call isavailable.” Additionally, when the recipient terminal 402 which has beenbusy enters a call-receivable state, this service may provide a guidemessage to both the caller terminal 401 and the recipient terminal 402,as follows. “[Line Reopening Notification] A call is available at011-123-4567.” Also, this service may provide a guide message to therecipient terminal 402, as follows. “[Please Call] MM/DD/00:00011-123-4567 Press call button for automatic dialing.” And also, thisservice may automatically send a call message of the caller terminal 401to the recipient terminal 402.

The ring back tone service apparatus 243 provides supplementary servicesassociated with a ring back tone. The ring back tone service apparatus243 may provide a multimedia file as a ring back tone, instead of a ringback tone sound of normal tone mode. Thus, the ring back tone serviceapparatus 243 stores multimedia files for a ring back tone, and suchmultimedia files include sounds, videos, and images. Hereinafter, a ringback tone based on multimedia files will be referred to as “a multimediaring back tone.” The ring back tone service apparatus 243 may provide astored multimedia ring back tone at the request of the supplementaryservice controller 110. Also, the ring back tone service apparatus 243may provide different multimedia ring back tones by subscribers (orsubscribers' terminals) and by days of the week in response to therequest of the supplementary service controller 110.

The voice message service apparatus 244 provides supplementary servicesassociated with a voice message. The voice message service apparatus 244receives and stores a voice message transmitted from the caller terminal401 through the supplementary service controller 110 and may transmitthe stored voice message to the recipient terminal 402. The voicemessage service apparatus 244 may be formed by means of equipment suchas VPS (Voice Push Server) and VPIP (VoIP and the Internet).

The IGW 220 is a gateway among the supplementary service controller 110,the HLR 210, the recipient service apparatus 241, and the call serviceapparatus 242. The IGW 220 connects the supplementary service controller110 with the HLR 210, the recipient service apparatus 241, or the callservice apparatus 242.

The MSC 230 performs a call processing and a service interworkingprocessing for a subscriber (or subscriber's terminal) when thesubscriber's terminal receives a certain service in the circuit network200, and performs a call and service processing by downloadingsubscriber's service profile from the HLR 210. Here, a service profileincludes a basic service and at least one supplementary service. Also,when the terminal 400 accesses the circuit network 200, the MSC 230performs authentication by querying the terminal 400 to the HLR 210 andregisters a subscriber of the authenticated terminal 400. Since thesupplementary service controller 110 uses a service profile of the HLR210, the MSC 230 can provide the same supplementary service to theterminals 400 accessing the circuit network 200 as in the packet network100.

The IP server 245 performs a multimedia-related function. The IP server245 may provide a multimedia file to the terminal 400 if it is requiredfor a supplementary service. This is similar to roles of the multimediaresource controller 160 and the multimedia resource processor 170.

The sound database 246 is database that stores a variety of sounds.Using one or more of the stored sounds, the sound database 246 mayprovide a supplementary service to the terminals 400.

The number portability message apparatus 247, also referred to as theVSMSS, provides a short message service to any number-changed terminals400.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an interworking structure between a packetnetwork and a circuit network configured to provide supplementaryservices in accordance with at least one embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 2, the supplementary service controller 110 interworksand communicates with the HLR 210 according to MAP (Mobile ApplicationPart).

The supplementary service controller 110 may query a service profilerequired for the HLR 210 or receive a required service profile throughthe IGW 220. The supplementary service controller 110 and the HLR 210communicate in a protocol of MAP with each other through the IGW 220. Ifa service profile received from the HLR 210 is changed, thesupplementary service controller 110 may deliver it to the HLR 210.Also, the HLR 210 may deliver a changed one of its own stored serviceprofiles to the supplementary service controller 110. Therefore, thesupplementary service controller 110 and the HLR 210 can keep and updatethe same service profile.

The supplementary service controller 110 interworks with the recipientservice apparatus 241 or the caller service apparatus 242 through theIGW 220, and communicates with the recipient service apparatus 241 orthe caller service apparatus 242 through the IGW 220 by using a protocolof MAP. The supplementary service controller 110 may query supplementaryservice data stored in database (DB) of the recipient service apparatus241, receive supplementary service data in response to the queried, senda request message to request performing a supplementary service, andreceive results corresponding the request.

The supplementary service controller 110 interworks and communicateswith the ring back tone service apparatus 243 by using a protocol ofTCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol). Thesupplementary service controller 110 may query supplementary servicedata associated with ring back tone and stored in database (DB) of thering back tone service apparatus 243, receive supplementary service datain response to the queried, send a request message to request performinga supplementary service, and receive results with respect to therequest.

The supplementary service controller 110 may interwork with the voicemessage service apparatus 244 through the session controller 120 and themedia gateway controller 140. To communicate with the voice messageservice apparatus 244, the supplementary service controller 110 mayinterwork with the session controller 120 and then communicate with thevoice message service apparatus 244 through the media gateway controller140. At this time, if the supplementary service controller 110 sends SIPdata to the session controller 120, the session controller 120 deliversthe received data to the media gateway controller 140. If the SIP datais a message, the media gateway controller 140 converts an SIP messageinto an ISUP message which is compatible to the circuit network 200, anddelivers the converted ISUP message to the voice message serviceapparatus 244. On the contrary, in case where the voice message serviceapparatus 244 sends an ISUP message to the supplementary servicecontroller 110, the media gateway controller 140 converts an ISUPmessage into an SIP message which is compatible to the packet network100, and then delivers the converted SIP message to the sessioncontroller 120, which delivers the SIP message to the supplementaryservice controller 110. As discussed above, the supplementary servicecontroller 110 may use SIP to transmit or receive data to or from thesession controller 120.

The supplementary service controller 110 interworks with the HLR 210,the recipient service apparatus 241, the caller service apparatus 242,the ring back tone service apparatus 243, and the voice message serviceapparatus 244 located in the circuit network 200. The supplementaryservice controller 110 may provide supplementary services by using thesesupplementary service apparatuses 241˜247 (for example, the recipientservice apparatus 241, the caller service apparatus 242, the ring backtone service apparatus 243, and the voice message service apparatus244). Namely, the supplementary service controller 110 can providesupplementary services by using supplementary service data, as it is,created in the circuit network 200 even for the terminals served fromthe circuit network 200. Also, each supplementary service apparatus mayprovide web environments to store, update, change and deletesupplementary service data, and the web environments may be used as aninterface for providing the supplementary services from each or all ofthe supplementary service apparatuses. Therefore, supplementary servicesprovided in the circuit network 200 can be even adapted and used in thepacket network 100, whereby the consistency in view of service qualityfor the supplementary services provided to the terminals can bemaintained.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of an interworking structure between a packetnetwork and a circuit network configured to provide synchronizedsupplementary services in accordance with at least one embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 3, as discussed above, the supplementary servicecontroller 110 shares a service profile with the HLR 210 of the circuitnetwork 200. For this, the supplementary service controller 110 mayreceive and store a service profile of the HLR 210. Also, if thereoccurs a change or an update in either of state information of eachservice profile held by the supplementary service controller 110 and theHLR 210, either of the supplementary service controller 110 and the HLR210 transmits a synchronization message to the counterpart such thatstate information of a service profile is equally changed or updated(i.e., to be the same as) in the counterpart in order to maintain thesame service profile. Thus, state information of a service profile issynchronized between the packet network 100 and the circuit network 200.

A synchronization message has supplementary service identificationinformation specified for distinguishing each supplementary service. Asynchronization message may be MAP message written in a format of MAPprotocol. For example, a synchronization message may beAnyTimeModification message.

The following is an embodiment for describing a synchronization messagein a format of MAP protocol.

Example 1

AnyTimeModificationArq ::= SEQUENCE { subscriberIdentity [0]SubscriberIdentity, gsmSCF-Address [1] ISDN-AddressString,modificationRequestFor-CF-Info [2] ModificationRequestFor-CF-InfoOPTIONAL, modificationRequestFor-CB-Info [3]ModificationRequestFor-CB-Info OPTIONAL, modificationRequestFor-CSI [4] ModificationRequestFor-CSI OPTIONAL, extensionContainer [5]ExtensionContainer OPTIONAL, longFTN-Supported [6] NULL OPTIONAL, . . ., modificationRequestFor-ODB-data [7] ModificationRequestFor-ODB- dataOPTIONAL }

The above syntax defines a synchronization message, namely,AnyTimeModification message. This synchronization message is to requesta change or update in settings of supplementary services. If one of thesupplementary service controller 110 and the HLR 210 transmits asynchronization message, the other becomes aware of the need to changeor update its own service profile.

Also, a synchronization message contains supplementary serviceidentification information in order to inform a supplementary service tobe changed or updated in a service profile. Here, supplementary serviceidentification information may be inserted using the above-mentioned“extensionContainer”.

The following is an embodiment for inserting supplementary serviceidentification information in a synchronization message.

Example 2

  SKTSupplemetaryServiceInfo ::= SEQUENCE { SKTSS-ID SKTSSID, ss-Status[1] Ext-SS-Status OPTIONAL, forwardedToNumber [2] AddressStringOPTIONAL, extenstionContainer [3] ExtensionContainer OPTIONAL, . . . }SKTSSID ::= OCTET STRING (SIZE(1..2)) -- OCTET 1: SKT SupplemetaryService ID ex) CNIP: 0x01 CNIP: 0x02 -- OCTET 2: Reserved

As shown above, a synchronization message describes supplementaryservice identification information for distinguishing any supplementaryservice from the others in “SKTSupplemetaryServiceInfo” of“extensionContainer”.

According to the above, one of the supplementary service controller 110and the HLR 210 receives a synchronization message as shown in <Example1>, extracts supplementary service identification information from“SKTSupplemetaryServiceInfo” of “extensionContainer”, and activates orinactivates state information of a supplementary service mapped with theextracted supplementary service identification information.

As discussed above, a synchronization message sends supplementaryservice identification information in order to change or update thestate of a supplementary service. Thus, the supplementary servicecontroller 110 or the HLR 210 receiving a synchronization messagetoggles the state of a supplementary service corresponding tosupplementary service identification information. Namely, if the stateof a supplementary service in a service profile is initially set as anactive state and a synchronization message is received, thesupplementary service controller 110 or the HLR 210 toggles from anactive state to an inactive state based on supplementary serviceidentification information of the received synchronization message.Similarly, if the state of a supplementary service in a service profileis initially set as an inactive state and a synchronization message isreceived, the supplementary service controller 110 or the HLR 210toggles from an inactive state to an active state based on supplementaryservice identification information of the received synchronizationmessage.

As discussed above, the supplementary service controller 110 and the HLR210 synchronize their service profile through an exchange of asynchronization message. In some embodiment where the caller terminal401 sends a request for a call connection to the recipient terminal 402,the supplementary service controller 110 determines whether the callerterminal 401 and/or the recipient terminal 402 are associated with oneor more supplementary services and whether each of the one or moresupplementary services is activated (or subscribed to). Then, if thereis any providable supplementary service according to state informationof each corresponding supplementary service, the supplementary servicecontroller 110 determines to provide the corresponding supplementaryservice to the caller terminal 401 and/or the recipient terminal 402. Bysharing a service profile and synchronizing state information in theservice profile between the supplementary service controller 110 of thepacket network 100 and the HLR 210 of the circuit network 200, thepacket network 100 and the circuit network 200 can provide asynchronized supplementary service.

For a synchronization service with respect to a service profile, thesession controller 120 in at least one embodiment may relay a messagefor requesting a change of a state (hereinafter referred to as a statechange request message) and a message for responding to the requestedmessage (hereinafter referred to as state change response message)written in a format of SIP protocol between the terminals 400 and thesupplementary service controller 110. In this case, a state changerequest message may be INVITE message, and a state change responsemessage may be 200 OK message.

Meanwhile, in at least one embodiment, the HLR 210 of the circuitnetwork 200 interworks with the supplementary service controller 110 andthey communicates with each other in a MAP (Mobile Application Part)protocol. The supplementary service controller 110 may receive and storea service profile obtained (or received) from the HLR 210 via the IGW220. The HLR 210 may send and share its own service profile to and withthe supplementary service controller 110. Additionally, if stateinformation is changed in a service profile of one of the supplementaryservice controller 110 and the HLR 210, a synchronization message may betransmitted to the other such that the changed state information isequally changed or updated in a service profile of the other. Thus,state information of a service profile is synchronized between thesupplementary service controller 110 and the HLR 210. In other words,the state information of a service profile with respect to one or moresupplementary services is synchronized between the packet network 100and the circuit network 200.

The supplementary service apparatus 240 comprehensively indicates allapparatuses equipped for a support of supplementary services in thecircuit network 200, and may include the recipient service apparatus241, the caller service apparatus 242, the ring back tone serviceapparatus 243, the voice message service apparatus 244, and the like asdiscussed above.

The supplementary service controller 110 may provide supplementaryservices by interworking with the supplementary service apparatus 240.Namely, the supplementary service controller 110 may query supplementaryservice data stored in database (DB) of the supplementary serviceapparatus 240, receive supplementary service data, send a requestmessage to request performing a supplementary service, and receiveresults related to the performed supplementary service requested. Asdiscussed above, the supplementary service controller 110 can providesupplementary services by using one or more supplementary serviceapparatus 240 located in the circuit network 200. Namely, thesupplementary service controller 110 can provide supplementary servicesby using supplementary service data, as it is, created in the circuitnetwork 200. In other words, while interworking between one entity(i.e., the supplementary service controller 110) of the packet network100 and the other entity (i.e., the supplementary service apparatus 240)of the circuit network, the consistency and continuity in view ofservice quality for the supplementary services provided to the terminals400 can be maintained under hetero network environment configured withthe packet network 100 and the circuit network 200.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of the configuration of asupplementary service controller in accordance with at least oneembodiment.

Referring to FIG. 4, the supplementary service controller 110 includes acommunication module 111, a memory module 113, and a control module 115.

The communication module 111 may be configured to transmit and receivedata to and from other entities in the packet network 100 and one ormore elements (or entities) in the circuit network 200. For this, thecommunication module 111 may perform processing data into data in asuitable protocol format by which the data processed with a suitableprotocol format is sent to or received from one or more targetingentities. Basically, the supplementary service controller 110 cancommunicate with other entities in the packet network 100 in a SIPprotocol. Therefore, the communication module 111 may process data intoa format of SIP protocol when communicating with other entities in thepacket network 100. Also, for data security, the supplementary servicecontroller 110 can communicate with the home subscriber apparatus 130and the charging processor 180 in a format of DIAMETER protocol.Therefore, the communication module 111 may process relevant data intoone in a format of DIAMETER protocol when communicating with the homesubscriber apparatus 130 and the charging processor 180 in the packetnetwork 100. The supplementary service controller 110 can communicatewith the HLR 210 and the IGW 220 in a MAP (Mobile Application Part)protocol. Therefore, the communication module 111 may process data in aMAP protocol when communicating with the HLR 210 and the IGW 220.Further, the supplementary service controller 110 can communicate withthe ring back tone service apparatus 243 by using a according to TCP/IP(Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol). Therefore, thecommunication module 111 may process data in a format of TCP/IP whencommunicating with the ring back tone service apparatus 243.

The memory module 113 may be configured to store a service profilereceived from the HLR 210 in the circuit network 200 and a serviceprofile received from the home subscriber apparatus 130 in the packetnetwork 100. If the supplementary service controller 110 providessupplementary services in the packet network 100 only, the memory module113 may store supplementary service data required for providingsupplementary services.

The control module 115 may be configured to control a chain ofprocessing steps required for providing supplementary services in thesupplementary service controller 110.

The control module 115 may be configured to search a service profile andcheck for supplementary services available for the terminals 400. Aservice profile has a list of services, and each item in the listindicates a basic service or a supplementary service. The control module115 provides a supplementary service when a relevant item correspondingto the supplementary service in the list is activated in the serviceprofile. If a relevant item is inactivated in the service profile, thecontrol module 115 does not provide the corresponding supplementaryservice. Therefore, through a service profile, the control module 115determines whether to provide a supplementary service to a callerterminal or recipient terminal.

The control module 115 may create a synchronization message forsynchronizing state information of a service profile stored in thememory module 113 and of a service profile stored in the HLR 210, andthen send the synchronization message to the HLR 210 through thecommunication module 111. Also, when the synchronization message isreceived from the HLR 210, the control module 115 may change stateinformation of an item indicated by supplementary service identificationinformation of a synchronization message in a service profile stored inthe memory module 113. And also, the control module 115 may receive,from the terminals 400 through the communication module 111, a statechange request message that requests a change in state information of aservice profile. Therefore, the control module 115 may change or updatedstate information of an item indicated by supplementary serviceidentification information of a state change request message in aservice profile stored in the memory module 113. At this time, stateinformation may be activated or deactivated depending on settinginformation of a state change request message.

The control module 115 may check for supplementary services providableto the terminals 400 by querying and searching a service profile of theHLR 210 in the circuit network 200. Also, the control module 115 maycheck for supplementary services providable to the terminals 400 byreferring to a service profile, which having already been received fromthe HLR 210, stored in the memory module 113.

After checking the service profile, the control module 115 may provide arelevant supplementary service to a caller terminal 401 or a recipientterminal 402. The control module 115 may provide the supplementaryservice by interworking with the supplementary service apparatus 240 ofthe circuit network 200, or provide the supplementary service by itself(i.e., alone) without any further interworking with the supplementaryservice apparatus 240.

In some embodiments of providing supplementary service(s) byinterworking with the supplementary service apparatus 240, the controlmodule 115 may provide supplementary service(s) after interworking withthe supplementary service apparatus 240 by using the communicationmodule 111. By receiving supplementary service data required forproviding supplementary service(s) from the supplementary serviceapparatus 240, the control module 115 may provide supplementaryservice(s) to the terminals 400. For example, the control module 115 mayreceive a multimedia ring back tone from the ring back tone serviceapparatus 243 through the communication module 111 and provide it to theterminals 400. Also, the control module 115 may provide supplementaryservice(s) to the terminals 400 by querying and searching supplementaryservice data stored in the supplementary service apparatus 240. Forexample, the supplementary service controller 110 may search an incomingcall blocking list in the recipient service apparatus 241. Namely, whenthe caller terminal 401 sends a request for call connection to therecipient terminal 402, the control module 115 may query the recipientservice apparatus 241 about whether the caller terminal 401 isregistered in an incoming call blocking list of the recipient terminal402. Then, the recipient service apparatus 241 may respond about whetherregistered or not. If the caller terminal 401 is registered in anincoming call blocking list of the recipient terminal 402, the controlmodule 115 may not accept a call connection of the call terminal 401.The control module 115 may request the supplementary service apparatus240 to provide supplementary service(s) to the terminals 400 by sendingsupplementary service data required for providing supplementaryservice(s). For example, the control module 115 may transmit, using thecommunication module 111, a voice message to the voice message serviceapparatus 244 through the session controller 120 and the media gatewaycontroller 140 and thereby request the voice message service apparatus244 to send the voice message to the recipient terminal 402.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a service profile in accordance with at least oneembodiment.

Referring to FIG. 5, a service profile arranges items (services)associated with each subscriber terminal (or each subscriber). Eachservice may be a basic service or a supplementary service, but theservice profile in FIG. 5 illustrates supplementary service(s) only.

As shown in FIG. 5, a service profile records one or more items thatrespectively indicate various types of supplementary services. Each itemhas state information, which may be a kind of flag value for indicatingan active or inactive state. Therefore, any item with activated stateinformation indicates a state in which the corresponding supplementaryservice can be provided to a subscriber's terminal. Any item withinactivated state information indicates a state in which thecorresponding supplementary service cannot be provided. For example,referring to a line reopening notification service in FIG. 5, users 1and 2 with activated state can be provided with this supplementaryservice (i.e., a line reopening notification service). However, user 3with deactivated state cannot be provided with this supplementaryservice.

In at least one embodiment, the supplementary service controller 110 mayquery a service profile for a specific subscriber's terminal (or aspecific subscriber) to the HLR 210 or the home subscriber apparatus 130and thereby check for a supplementary service providable to the specificsubscriber’ terminal (or the specific subscriber).

In at least another embodiment, the supplementary service controller 110may receive a service profile from the HLR 210 or the home subscriberapparatus 130 and store it. Then the supplementary service controller110 may check for a supplementary service providable to the subscriber’terminal (or the subscriber) from the stored service profile. As such,if the supplementary service controller 110 and the HLR 210 or the homesubscriber apparatus 130 share a service profile, and if this sharedservice profile is changed in one of the supplementary servicecontroller 110 and the HLR 210, or in one of the supplementary servicecontroller 110 and the home subscriber apparatus 130, the changedservice profile can be synchronized with the corresponding serviceprofile stored in the other by changing or updating the correspondingservice profile such that both of entities (i.e., both the supplementaryservice controller 110 and the HLR 210, or both of the supplementaryservice controller 110 and the home subscriber apparatus 130) maintainthe same service profile.

The supplementary service controller 110 may provide a supplementaryservice only when an item indicating the supplementary service through aservice profile is activated. Therefore, by sharing a service profilewith the HLR 210, the supplementary service controller 110 may providethe same supplementary service to the terminals 400 in the packetnetwork 100 as in the circuit network 200. Also, the supplementaryservice controller 110 may provide supplementary service(s) through thesupplementary service apparatus 240, which is to provide supplementaryservice(s) in the circuit network 200. Therefore, the supplementaryservice controller 110 may provide supplementary service(s) in thepacket network 100 by means of data and method of the same form as inthe circuit network 200.

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of a terminal configured to usesupplementary services in accordance with at least one embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 6, the terminal 400 in at least one embodimentincludes a communication unit 410, an input unit 440, an output unit450, a memory unit 460, and a control unit 470. In some embodiments, oneor more entities of one or more of the packet network 100 and circuitnetwork 200 (e.g., the session controller 120, the MGCF 140, the HLR210, the IGW 220, and/or the supplementary service apparatus(s) 240)is/are configured similarly to the supplementary service controller 110and/or the terminal 400.

The communication unit 410 is configured to transmit or receive dataafter accessing the packet network 100 or the circuit network 200through the access network 300. Here, data includes various messages ina format of SIP protocol, a state change request message, a state changeresponse message, or the like.

The communication unit 410 may include at least one of a wirelesscommunication unit 420 and a wired communication unit 430. The wirelesscommunication unit 420 may include at least one of a wireless networkcommunication unit 421, a WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network, or WiFi(Wireless Fidelity) or WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for MicrowaveAccess)) communication unit 422, a WPAN (Wireless Personal Area Network)communication unit 423, and the like.

The wireless communication unit 420 is configured to transmit andreceive data by a wireless communication via air interface. If theterminals 400 use a wireless communication, the wireless communicationunit 420 may transmit or receive data using one of the wireless networkcommunication unit 421, the WLAN communication unit 422, and the WPANcommunication unit 423.

The wireless network communication unit 421 is configured to transmitand receive data by accessing the packet network 100 or the circuitnetwork 200 after accessing the access network 300 through the basestation 310. The wireless network communication unit 421 may receivedata from the control unit 470, access the access network 300 throughthe base station 310, access either the packet network 100 or thecircuit network 200, and then transmit data. Also, the wireless networkcommunication unit 421 may access the access network 300 through thebase station 310, access either the packet network 100 or the circuitnetwork 200, receive data from either the packet network 100 or thecircuit network 200, and then provide the received data to the controlunit 470.

The WLAN communication unit 422 is configured to perform a communicationvia air interface such as WLAN, WiFi or WiMAX. When receiving data fromthe control unit 470, the WLAN communication unit 422 may access theaccess network 300 through access point, access either the packetnetwork 100 or the circuit network 200, and then transmit data to eitherthe packet network 100 or the circuit network 200. Also, the WLANcommunication unit 422 may access the access network 300 through accesspoint, access either the packet network 100 or the circuit network 200,receives data from either the packet network 100 or the circuit network200, and then provide the received data to the control unit 470.

The WPAN communication unit 423 is configured to transmit or receivedata in a format of WPAN protocol which is much adapted to ashorter-range wireless communication rather than the wireless networkcommunication unit 421 and the WLAN communication unit 422. In case ofbeing connectable to a gateway directly or through multi-hop, the WPANcommunication unit 423 may access either the packet network 100 or thecircuit network 200 through a gateway, and then transmit or receivedata. For example, the WPAN communication unit 423 may be Bluetooth,IrDA, ZigBee, or the like.

The wired communication unit 430 is configured to transmit and receivedata in a wired manner. The wired communication unit 430 may accesseither the packet network 100 or the circuit network 200 through wires,and then transmit or receive data to or from either the packet network100 or the circuit network 200.

The input unit 440 is configured to receive one of user command,selection, data, and information, and may have a plurality of input keysand function keys for receiving numeral or text inputs and settingvarious functions. Additionally, the input unit 440 is configured todetect user's key input and deliver an input signal based on thedetected key input to the control unit 470. For example, the input unit440 may use a typical input device such as a keyboard, a keypad, amouse, and a joystick, or all kinds of any other input device.

The output unit 450 is configured to output information or resultscaused by the operation of the terminal 400, and to output supplementaryservice data. The output unit 450 may have a display device 451 thatoutputs visual information, and an audio device 453 that outputs audibleinformation. In at least one embodiment, the output unit 450 mayvisually display supplementary service data on the screen. For example,this supplementary service data may be a phone number of a missed callwhen a call is not answered in the terminals 400. The display device 451may be a touch screen. If the display device 451 is formed of a touchscreen, the display device 451 may perform parts or all of functions ofthe input unit 440. The audio device 453 may audibly outputsupplementary service data. For example, this supplementary service datamay be a voice message.

Particularly, when a state change response message is received, theoutput unit 450 outputs it through the display device 451 and the audiodevice 453 such that a user can perceive visually and audibly a changeof state information. For example, the output unit 450 may output soundto inform the arrival of a state change response message through theaudio device 453 and also display supplementary service(s) with changedstate information through the display device 451.

The memory unit 460 is configured to store data and includes a mainmemory unit and an auxiliary memory unit. The memory unit 460 may storean operation system (OS), applications, and the like. Particularly, whensupplementary service data is received, the memory unit 460 may storethe received supplementary service data. For example, this supplementaryservice data may be a phone number of a missed call when a call is notanswered in the terminals 400. Various data stored in the memory unit460 may be deleted, modified, or added, depending on user'smanipulations.

The control unit 470 may be a processor that actually is configured todrive the operating system. For example, the control unit 470 may be aCPU (Central Processing Unit). Once power of the terminal 400 is turnedon, the control unit 470 is configured to shift the operating systemfrom an auxiliary memory unit of the memory unit 460 to a main memoryunit and then perform a booting process for driving the operatingsystem.

When there is a user request through the input unit 440, the controlunit 470 is configured to create a state change request message foractivating or inactivating specific supplementary service(s) and thensend it to the supplementary service controller 110 through thecommunication unit 410. At this time, the control unit 470 may send astate change request message to the supplementary service controller 110through the session controller 120 by using a SIP protocol.Additionally, the terminals 400 may directly transmit a state changerequest message to the supplementary service controller 110 by using anXCAP (Extensible Markup Language Configuration Access Protocol). In someembodiment of using XCAP, the control unit 470 transmits a state changerequest message through a direct interface Ut with the supplementaryservice controller 110. A state change request message containssupplementary service identification information for distinguishing eachsupplementary service from the others, and setting information forindicating whether to activate or inactivate each supplementary service.Also, the control unit 470 may receive a state change response messagefrom the supplementary service controller 110 and thereby check whetherstate information has been changed or not. The supplementary servicecontroller 110 updates its own supplementary service data by processingand storing at the memory unit 460 the changed state information of thesupplementary services requested by the state change request message.

Meanwhile, the control unit 470 may create a state change requestmessage for activating or inactivating the state information ofsupplementary service(s) and then send it to the HLR 210 through thecommunication unit 410. Also, the control unit 470 may receive a statechange response message from the HLR 210 in response to the sent statechange request message and thereby check whether state information ofsupplementary service(s) requested by the state change request messagehas been changed or not.

In one embodiment of using a SIP protocol, a state change requestmessage may be the INVITE message, and a state change response messagemay be the 200 OK message. In one embodiment of using a XCAP protocol, astate change request message may be the HTTP request message, and astate change response message may be the HTTP response message.Meanwhile, in view of a terminal, the state change request may be usedfor synchronizing between a supplementary service controller of a packetnetwork and a home location register of a circuit network by exchangingthe changed the state information of the supplementary servicestherebetween.

A method for providing supplementary service(s) in accordance with atleast one embodiment will be now described.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of a method for providing supplementaryservices in accordance with at least one embodiment.

In step S101, the supplementary service controller 110 detects a sessionconnection request between the caller terminal 401 and the recipientterminal 402.

The caller terminal 401 may send the INVITE message for requesting asession connection associated with a basic service (e.g., a callconnection) to the recipient terminal 402 by using a SIP protocol, andthe session controller 120 may connect (or establish) a session betweenthe caller terminal 401 and the recipient terminal 402 by deliveringthis INVITE message, which is a message based on SIP, to the recipientterminal 402. As such, the session controller 120 administers (orinitiates) a session connection between the caller terminal 401 and therecipient terminal 402. While connecting (or establishing) a sessiontherebetween, the session controller 120 may send the SIP based INVITEmessage to the supplementary service controller 110 such that thesupplementary service controller 110 can know through the INVITE messagethat a session connection between the terminals 400 is ongoing.

During a session connection (or a session establishment), thesupplementary service controller 110 checks, in step S103, forsupplementary service(s) providable to the caller terminal 401 thatinitially sends the INVITE message for a session connection, or to therecipient terminal 402 that lastly receives the INVITE message. In atleast one embodiment, the supplementary service controller 110 mayreceive a service profile from the HLR 210, store the received serviceprofile, search the stored service profile, and thereby check whether ornot there are supplementary service(s) providable to the caller terminal401 or the recipient terminal 402. Alternatively, in at least anotherembodiment, the supplementary service controller 110 may query the HLR210 about supplementary service(s) providable to the caller terminal 401or the recipient terminal 402. In this case, in response to a query fromthe supplementary service controller 110, the HLR 210 may search aservice profile stored therein and send a response to the query thesupplementary service controller 110. Based on the response from the HLR210, the supplementary service controller 110 may check whether or notthere are supplementary service(s) providable to the caller terminal 401or the recipient terminal 402.

In step S105, the supplementary service controller 110 determineswhether supplementary service(s) providable to the terminals 400 is (orare) allowed to be provided by interworking with at least onesupplementary service apparatus 240.

As the result of determination in step S105, if so, the supplementaryservice controller 110 provides in step S107 the correspondingsupplementary service(s) to the terminals 400 by interworking with atleast one supplementary service apparatus 240. In other words, thesupplementary service controller 110 utilizes existing resources relatedto supplementary services from the circuit network by interworking withat least one of supplementary service apparatuses constructed in thecircuit network.

The supplementary service controller 110 may receive supplementaryservice data required for providing supplementary service(s) from atleast one supplementary service apparatus 240 and then provide to theterminals 400 the corresponding supplementary service(s) based on thereceived supplementary service data. For example, the supplementaryservice controller 110 may receive a multimedia ring back tone assupplementary service data from the ring back tone service apparatus 243and then provide the multimedia ring back tone as a supplementaryservice to the terminals 400.

Additionally, the supplementary service controller 110 may providesupplementary service(s) to the terminals 400 by querying and searchingsupplementary service data stored in at least one supplementary serviceapparatus 240. For example, the recipient service apparatus 241 storesan incoming call blocking list of one or more the caller terminalsdenied by the recipient terminal 402, and the supplementary servicecontroller 110 may query the recipient service apparatus 241 aboutwhether the one or more caller terminals are registered in the incomingcall blocking list. Based on a response from the recipient serviceapparatus 241, the supplementary service controller 110 may checkwhether the one or more caller terminals are registered in the incomingcall blocking list. Namely, through a query to and a response from therecipient service apparatus 241, the supplementary service controller110 may search the incoming call blocking list which is supplementaryservice data. When an incoming call is originated from the one or morecaller terminals, the supplementary service controller 110 may restricta call connection with the one or more caller terminals by blocking theincoming call.

By sending supplementary service data required for providingsupplementary service(s) to at least one of the supplementary serviceapparatuses, the supplementary service controller 110 may request theterminals 400 to provide supplementary service(s). For example, thesupplementary service controller 110 may transmit a voice message assupplementary service data to the voice message service apparatus 244and then request the voice message service apparatus 244 to send thevoice message to the recipient terminal 402.

As the result of determination in step S105, if supplementary service(s)is/are not allowed to be provided by interworking with at least one ofthe supplementary service apparatuses, the supplementary servicecontroller 110 provides in step S109 supplementary service(s) to theterminals 400.

According to various embodiments as discussed above, the supplementaryservice controller 110 provides supplementary service(s) in the IMSnetwork which is the packet network 100, and the supplementary servicecontroller 110 utilizes at least one of the supplementary serviceapparatuses that provides supplementary service(s) in the circuitnetwork 200. These supplementary service apparatuses have database forproviding supplementary service(s). Utilization of such existingresources held in the supplementary service apparatuses may allow thepacket network 100 to continuously provide supplementary service(s)provided in the circuit network 200. It is therefore possible toconsistently provide supplementary services to all following types ofthe terminals 400: for example, the terminals 400 using a voice servicebased on packet-switched type such as mVoIP in the packet network 100;the terminals 400 using a voice call service based on circuit-switchedtype in the circuit network 200; and the terminals 400 capable of usingboth voice call services based on the packet-switched andcircuit-switched types.

Various methods for synchronizing supplementary services in accordancewith various embodiments will be now described. According to a firstembodiment, the terminals 400 may access the packet network 100 and thenactivate or inactivate the state information of associated supplementaryservice(s). Alternatively, according to a second embodiment, theterminals 400 may access the circuit network 200 and then activate orinactivate the state information of associated supplementary service(s).

FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram of a method for synchronizing supplementaryservices in accordance with at least one embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 8, in step S201, the terminal 400 sends a state changerequest message to the supplementary service controller 110 in order toactivate or inactivate the state information of specific supplementaryservice(s). A state change request message may be INVITE message basedon a SIP protocol, and the terminal 400 may send the SIP based INVITEmessage to the supplementary service controller 110 through the sessioncontroller (CSCF) 120. In at least another embodiment of using XCAP, astate change request message may be HTTP request message, and theterminal 400 may send the HTTP request message to the supplementaryservice controller 110 through a direct interface Ut. This state changerequest message contains supplementary service identificationinformation for distinguishing one supplementary service from theothers, and setting information for indicating whether to activate orinactivate the state information of the supplementary service.

Therefore, in step S203, based on the state change request message, thesupplementary service controller 110 changes the state information ofsupplementary service(s) in a service profile. Namely, the supplementaryservice controller 110 may change the state information of specificsupplementary service(s) corresponding to supplementary serviceidentification information included in the state change request messageaccording to setting information included in the state change requestmessage. As such, after changing setting of the state information ofspecific supplementary service(s), the supplementary service controller110 sends a state change response message to the terminal 400 in stepS205.

Meanwhile, the supplementary service controller 110 creates asynchronization message in step S207 and sends the synchronizationmessage to the HLR 210 in step S209. This synchronization message is forsynchronizing a service profile between the packet network 100 and thecircuit network 200. The synchronization message contains supplementaryservice identification information for distinguishing a specificsupplementary service(s), the state information of which will bechanged, from the other supplementary services. In step S211, the HLR210 receiving the synchronization message changes setting ofsupplementary service(s) in a service profile, based on the receivedsynchronization message in such a manner where the HLR 210 toggles thestate information of specific supplementary service(s) corresponding tosupplementary service identification information included in thesynchronization message. For example, if the state information of asupplementary service in a service profile is initially set as“inactive” and a synchronization message is received, the HLR 210changes setting of the state information by toggling from an inactivestate to an active state based on supplementary service identificationinformation of the received synchronization message. At this time, thesupplementary service controller 110 and the HLR 210 interwork with eachother, and thus the synchronization message may use AnyTimeModificationmessage based on MAP as discussed above in <Example 1> and <Example 2>.

FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram of a method for synchronizing supplementaryservices in accordance with at least another embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 9, in step S301, the terminal 400 sends a state changerequest message to the HLR 210 in order to activate or inactivatespecific supplementary service(s). This state change request messagecontains supplementary service identification information fordistinguishing one supplementary service from the others, and settinginformation for indicating whether to activate or inactivate the stateinformation of the supplementary service(s).

Therefore, in step S303, based on the state change request message, theHLR 210 changes the state information of supplementary service(s) in aservice profile. Namely, the HLR 210 may change the state information ofspecific supplementary service(s) corresponding to supplementary serviceidentification information included in the state change request messagedepending on setting information included in the state change requestmessage. As such, after changing the state information of supplementaryservice(s), the HLR 210 sends a state change response message to theterminal 400 in step S305.

Meanwhile, the HLR 210 creates a synchronization message in step S307and sends the synchronization message to the supplementary servicecontroller 110 in step S309. This synchronization message is configuredto synchronize a service profile between the packet network 100 and thecircuit network 200. Therefore, the synchronization message containssupplementary service identification information for distinguishing aspecific supplementary service, the state information of which will bechanged, from the others. In step S311, the supplementary servicecontroller 110 receiving the synchronization message changes the stateinformation of supplementary service(s) in a service profile, based onthe received synchronization message in such a manner that thesupplementary service controller 110 toggles from an inactive state toan active state, and vice versa, the state information of a specificsupplementary service corresponding to supplementary serviceidentification information included in the synchronization message.Since the supplementary service controller 110 and the HLR 210 interworkwith each other through IGW 220, the synchronization message may useAnyTimeModification message based on MAP as discussed above in <Example1> and <Example 2>.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of a method for providing synchronizedsupplementary services at a supplementary service controller inaccordance with at least one embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 10, once receiving a message in step S401 thesupplementary service controller 110 determines in step S403 whether thereceived message is a state change request message or a synchronizationmessage. Then step S405 is performed if the received message isdetermined to be a state change request message, whereas step 411 isperformed if the received message is determined to be a synchronizationmessage.

If the received message is a state change request message, thesupplementary service controller 110 may change in step S405 the stateinformation of specific item(s) (i.e., supplementary service(s))indicated by supplementary service identification information includedin the state change request message in such a manner that thesupplementary service controller 110 changes setting of the stateinformation of supplementary service(s), which are held in its ownservice profile, by toggling from an active state to an inactive state,and vice versa, depending on setting information included in the statechange request message. In step S407, the supplementary servicecontroller 110 sends a state change response message to the terminal 400in response to the state change request message. Next, in step S409, thesupplementary service controller 110 creates a synchronization messagebased on the state change request message and then sends the createdsynchronization message to the HLR 210. Here, the synchronizationmessage contains supplementary service identification information fordistinguishing a specific supplementary service, the state informationof which will be changed, from the others.

Meanwhile, if the received message is a synchronization message, thesupplementary service controller 110 may change in step S411 the stateinformation of specific item(s) (i.e., supplementary service(s)), whichare held in its own service profile, indicated by supplementary serviceidentification information included in the received synchronizationmessage.

According to various embodiments as discussed above, the supplementaryservice controller 110 is configured in order to provide supplementaryservices in the IMS network which is the packet network 100. Thissupplementary service controller 110 is configured to share a serviceprofile with the HLR 210 of the circuit network 200 and synchronize theshared service profile between the packet network 100 and the circuitnetwork 200. Therefore, it is possible to consistently providesupplementary services to all following types of the terminals: forexample, the terminals using a voice service based on packet-switchedtype such as mVoIP in the packet network 100; the terminals using avoice call service based on circuit-switched type in the circuit network200; and the terminals capable of using both voice call services basedon the packet-switched and circuit-switched types.

In various embodiments as discussed above, since supplementary servicesfor a packet based voice call may be provided in the packet network byusing infrastructures of the circuit network, it is possible to utilizedatabase and web resources constructed for providing supplementaryservices in the circuit network. Additionally, this may reduce aninfrastructure cost required for providing supplementary services. Also,since the circuit network and the packet network share and use the samedatabase, connectivity and continuity of supplementary services may bemaintained both in the circuit network and in the packet network.Additionally, by sharing and synchronizing a service profile indicatinga list of supplementary services joined by users' terminals in both thecircuit network and the packet network, supplementary services may beequally provided with all types of terminals in the circuit network andin the packet network.

The method for providing supplementary services through an interworkingstructure of circuit network and packet network and the method forsynchronizing supplementary services in various embodiments may beimplemented in the form of program being readable through a variety ofcomputer means and be recorded in any non-transitory, computer-readablemedium. Here, this medium may contain, alone or in combination, programinstructions, data files, data structures, and the like. For example,the medium includes hardware devices specially configured to store andexecute program instructions, including magnetic media such as a harddisk, a floppy disk and a magnetic tape, optical media such as CD-ROM(Compact Disk Read Only Memory) and DVD (Digital Video Disk),magneto-optical media such as floptical disk, ROM, RAM (Random AccessMemory), and flash memory. Program instructions may include machinelanguage codes made by a complier and high-level language codesexecutable in a computer using an interpreter or the like. In someembodiments, one or more of the processes or functionality describedherein is/are performed by specifically configured hardware (e.g., byone or more application specific integrated circuits or ASIC(s)). Someembodiments incorporate more than one of the described processes in asingle ASIC. In some embodiments, one or more of the processes orfunctionality described herein is/are performed by at least oneprocessor which is programmed for performing such processes orfunctionality.

While various embodiments have been particularly shown and described, itwill be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes inform and details may be made therein without departing from the subjectmatter and scope of this disclosure. Specific terms used in thisdisclosure and drawings are used for illustrative purposes and not to beconsidered as limitations of the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A packet network system for providingsupplementary services, said packet network system comprising: a sessioncontroller configured to establish a session connection associated witha basic service between terminals that access the packet network; and asupplementary service controller configured to receive a service profilehaving information about the supplementary services from a circuitnetwork, wherein the service profile of the circuit network istransmitted in one way direction from the circuit network to the packetnetwork in order to allow the packet network system to use the serviceprofile currently used in the circuit network when the packet networksystem does not have an independent service profile to provide thesupplementary services with the terminals to access the packet network,store the received service profile, check for a supplementary serviceprovidable to at least one of the terminals to access the packet networkbased on the stored service profile of the circuit network, when thereis a request for a session connection between the terminals that accessthe packet network, wherein the service profile having, for the at leastone of the terminals, (i) a list of supplementary services associatedwith the terminal, and (ii) state information associated with eachsupplementary service and indicating whether to provide thecorresponding supplementary service or not; receive supplementaryservice data of the providable supplementary service from asupplementary service apparatus located in the circuit network, andprovide the providable supplementary service to the at least one of theterminals by using the received supplementary service data, wherein thesupplementary service controller is further configured to transmit datarequired for providing supplementary service to the supplementaryservice apparatus, and to request the supplementary service apparatus toprovide the supplementary service to the at least one of the terminalsby using the transmitted data, and wherein the session controller andthe supplementary controller are located in the packet network, and whenthe packet network system does not have the independent service profileto provide the supplementary services with the terminals to access thepacket network, the supplementary service controller is configured torequest the service profile used in the circuit network by communicatingwith the supplementary service apparatus located in the circuit networkin order to share the service profile of the circuit network with thepacket network.
 2. A supplementary service controller for providingsupplementary services, said supplementary service controllercomprising: a communication module configured to transmit and receivedata; a memory module; and a control module configured to receive aservice profile having information about supplementary services from acircuit network through the communication module, store the receivedservice profile in the memory module, wherein the service profile of thecircuit network is transmitted in one way direction from the circuitnetwork to the packet network in order to allow the packet networksystem to use the service profile currently used in the circuit networkwhen the packet network system does not have an independent serviceprofile to provide the supplementary services with the terminals toaccess the packet network, check for a supplementary service providableto at least one of terminals to access the packet network based on thestored service profile of the circuit network, when there is a sessionconnection associated with a basic service between the terminals thataccess a packet network, wherein the service profile having, for the atleast one of the terminals, (i) a list of supplementary servicesassociated with the terminal, and (ii) state information associated witheach supplementary service and indicating whether to provide thecorresponding supplementary service or not; receive supplementaryservice data of the providable supplementary service from asupplementary service apparatus located in the circuit network throughthe communication module, and provide the providable supplementaryservice to the at least one of the terminals through the communicationmodule by using the received supplementary service data, wherein thecontrol module is further configured to transmit data required forproviding supplementary service to the supplementary service apparatusthrough the communication module, and to request the supplementaryservice apparatus to provide the supplementary service to the at leastone of the terminals by using the transmitted data, and wherein thesupplementary service controller is located in the packet network, andwhen the packet network system does not have the independent serviceprofile to provide the supplementary services with the terminals toaccess the packet network, the control module is configured to requestthe service profile the circuit network used in the circuit network bycommunicating with the supplementary service apparatus located in thecircuit network in order to share the service profile of the circuitnetwork with the packet network.
 3. The supplementary service controllerof claim 2, wherein the control module is further configured to searchthe received supplementary service data, and then to provide thesupplementary service to the at least one of the terminals according tothe searched supplementary service data.
 4. The supplementary servicecontroller of claim 2, wherein the control module is further configured,when receiving a state change request message for requesting a change ofthe state information from one of the terminals through thecommunication module, to change the state information in the memorymodule according to the received state change request message, andtransmit to the home location register through the communication modulea synchronization message that requests the home location register tochange the state information of the supplementary services in the homelocation register to be the same as the changed state information. 5.The supplementary service controller of claim 4, wherein the controlmodule is further configured, when receiving from the home locationregister a synchronization message that requests the control module tochange the state information of a supplementary service to be the sameas the state information of the supplementary services in the homelocation register, to change the state information of the supplementaryservices in the memory module according to the received synchronizationmessage.
 6. The supplementary service controller of claim 4, wherein thecontrol module is further configured to change the state information ofthe supplementary services in the memory module according to thereceived state change request message, and then to transmit to theterminal through the communication module a state change responsemessage that indicates a change of the state information.
 7. Acommunication system for providing synchronized supplementary services,said communication system comprising: a plurality of terminals; acircuit network including a home location register that stores, for eachof the plurality of terminals, a service profile having a list ofsupplementary services associated with the terminals, the circuitnetwork configured to provide at least one of the supplementary servicesto the terminals that access the circuit network according to stateinformation associated with the supplementary service and indicatingeither activation or inactivation of the supplementary service; and apacket network including a supplementary service controller, thesupplementary service controller configured to receive the serviceprofile having information about the supplementary services from acircuit network, wherein the service profile of the circuit network istransmitted in one way direction from the circuit network to the packetnetwork in order to allow the packet network system to use the serviceprofile currently used in the circuit network when the packet networksystem does not have an independent service profile to provide thesupplementary services with the terminals to access the packet network,store the received service profile, check for a supplementary serviceprovidable to at least one of the terminals to access the packet networkbased on the stored service profile of the circuit network, when thereis a request for a session connection between the terminals that accessthe packet network, wherein the service profile having, for the at leastone of the terminals, (i) a list of supplementary services associatedwith the terminal, and (ii) state information associated with eachsupplementary service and indicating whether to provide thecorresponding supplementary service or not; receive supplementaryservice data of the providable supplementary service from asupplementary service apparatus located in the circuit network, andprovide the providable supplementary service to the at least one of theterminals that accesses the packet network by using the receivedsupplementary service data; wherein the supplementary service controlleris further configured to transmit data required for providingsupplementary service to the supplementary service apparatus, and torequest the supplementary service apparatus to provide the supplementaryservice to the at least one of the terminals by using the transmitteddata, wherein the terminals are configured to transmit to the packetnetwork a message that requests a change of the state information withrespect to at least one of the supplementary services, and wherein thesupplementary service controller is located in the packet networksystem, and when the packet network system does not have the independentservice profile to provide the supplementary services with the terminalsto access the packet network, the supplementary service controller isconfigured to request the service profile used in the circuit network bycommunicating with the supplementary service apparatus located in thecircuit network in order to share the service profile of the circuitnetwork with the packet network.
 8. A method of providing supplementaryservices at a supplementary service controller of a packet network, saidmethod comprising: receiving, at the supplementary service controller ofthe packet network, a service profile having information about asupplementary service from a circuit network, wherein the serviceprofile of the circuit network is transmitted in one way direction fromthe circuit network to the packet network in order to allow the packetnetwork to use the service profile currently used in the circuit networkwhen the packet network system does not have an independent serviceprofile to provide the supplementary services with the terminals toaccess the packet network; storing, at the supplementary servicecontroller, the received service profile; checking, at the supplementaryservice controller, for the supplementary service providable to the atleast one of terminals to access the packet network based on the storedservice profile of the circuit network, when there is a request for asession connection between the terminals that access the packet network,wherein the service profile having, for the at least one of theterminals, (i) a list of supplementary services associated with theterminal, and (ii) state information associated with each supplementaryservice and indicating whether to provide the correspondingsupplementary service or not; receiving, at the supplementary servicecontroller, supplementary service data of the providable supplementaryservice from a supplementary service apparatus located in the circuitnetwork; and providing, at the supplementary service controller, theprovidable supplementary service to the at least one of the terminalsaccessing the packet network by using the received supplementary servicedata, wherein the supplementary service controller is further configuredto transmit data required for providing supplementary service to thesupplementary service apparatus, and to request the supplementaryservice apparatus to provide the supplementary service to the at leastone of the terminals by using the transmitted data, and wherein thesupplementary controller are located in the packet network, and when thepacket network system does not have the independent service profile toprovide the supplementary services with the terminals to access thepacket network, the supplementary service controller is configured torequest the service profile used in the circuit network by communicatingwith the supplementary service apparatus located in the circuit networkin order to share the service profile of the circuit network with thepacket network.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the providing of thesupplementary service includes: searching supplementary service data ofthe supplementary service apparatus; and providing the supplementaryservice to the at least one of the terminals according to the searchedsupplementary service data.
 10. A method of providing synchronizedsupplementary services at a supplementary service controller of a packetnetwork, said method comprising: receiving, at the supplementary servicecontroller of the packet network, a service profile having informationabout a supplementary service from a circuit network, wherein theservice profile of the circuit network is transmitted in one waydirection from the circuit network to the packet network in order toallow the packet network to use the service profile currently used inthe circuit network when the packet network system does not have anindependent service profile to provide the supplementary services withthe terminals to access the packet network; storing, at thesupplementary service controller, the received service profile;determining whether a received message is (i) a state change requestmessage that requests a change of state information corresponding to asupplementary service of the supplementary service controller, or (ii) asynchronization message that requests a change of the state informationto be the same as the state information of a home location register of acircuit network; changing the state information of the stored serviceprofile according to the state change request message when the receivedmessage is determined as the state change request message; transmittingto the home location register the synchronization message to change thestate information of the home location register as the changed stateinformation; checking, at the supplementary service controller, for asupplementary service providable to at least one of terminals to accessthe packet network based on the stored service profile of the circuitnetwork, when there is a request for a session connection between theterminals that access the packet network, when there is a request for asession connection between the terminals that access the packet network,wherein the service profile having, for the at least one of theterminals, (i) a list of supplementary services associated with theterminal, and (ii) state information associated with each supplementaryservice and indicating whether to provide the correspondingsupplementary service or not; receiving, at the supplementary servicecontroller, supplementary service data of the providable supplementaryservice from a supplementary service apparatus located in the circuitnetwork; and providing, at the supplementary service controller, theprovidable supplementary service to the at least one of the terminalsaccessing the packet network by using the received supplementary servicedata, wherein the supplementary service controller is further configuredto transmit data required for providing supplementary service to thesupplementary service apparatus, and to request the supplementaryservice apparatus to provide the supplementary service to the at leastone of the terminals by using the transmitted data, and wherein thesupplementary controller is located in the packet network, and when thepacket network system does not have the independent service profile toprovide the supplementary services with the terminals to access thepacket network, the supplementary service controller is configured torequest the service profile used in the circuit network by communicatingwith the supplementary service apparatus located in the circuit networkin order to share the service profile of the circuit network with thepacket network.
 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: changingthe state information of the supplementary service controller accordingto the synchronization message to be the same as the state informationof the home location register when the received message is determined asthe synchronization message.
 12. The method of claim 10, furthercomprising: transmitting to a terminal that sent the state changerequest message a state change response message that indicates a changeof the state information according to the state change request message.